Supplemental impact of silymarin in growing pig diet on the growth performance, total tract digestibility, faecal microflora, faecal noxious gas emission and absorption rate in blood

Abstract

The research was done to examine the impact of dietary silymarin on growth performance, total tract digestibility, faecal microbial, faecal gas emission and absorption rate in blood of growing pigs. Experiment 1: a total of 140 growing pigs (24.47 ± 2.49 kg) were used in a 6‐week trial. There were four dietary treatment groups (seven replicate pens/treatment, five pigs/pen) and treatment diets composed of corn, soybean meal (SBM), distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), and rapeseed meal‐based basal diets with 0%, 0.025%, 0.050% and 0.10% of micelle silymarin respectively. Experiment 2: A total of 18 pigs were divided into six treatment groups. Treatment diets: TRT1, TRT2 and TRT3 were basal diets with 30, 150 and 300 g powdered silymarin respectively; and TRT4, TRT5 and TRT6 were basal diets with 30, 150 and 300 g micelle‐type silymarin respectively. Average daily gain (ADG) tended to increase (p < 0.10) at Week 3 and overall experiment after silymarin addition. Overall ADG and average daily feed intake are also intended to improve (p < 0.10) linearly in this study. During Week 6, growing pigs fed silymarin showed linearly increased (p < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter, nitrogen and energy. Dietary silymarin supplementation increased (p < 0.10) linearly the faecal Lactobacillus count at Week 3 while Escherichia coli count was linearly decreased at both the 3rd week (p < 0.05) and 6th week (p < 0.10). Silymarin supplementation showed no effect on faecal gas emissions. A higher (p < 0.05) absorption rate in the blood was found in micelle‐type silymarin compared to powdered silymarin after the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th and 24th h of feeding. Results suggest that silymarin in a corn‐SBM‐DDGS‐rapeseed meal‐based diet may help to improve ADG, FI, ATTD and faecal microflora in growing pigs. And absorption rate in the blood of pig is higher in micelle‐type silymarin.

Assessing the potential of phytogenic feed additives: A comprehensive review on their effectiveness as a potent dietary enhancement for nonruminant in swine and poultry

“…The mixture of probiotic and phytogenic (0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%) supplements into broiler diets linearly improved overall growth performance (BWG and FI), immunological health, and favourable microbiological conditions while having no detrimental effects on nutrient digestibility or meat quality (Biswas & Kim, 2023c). The incorporation of PFA (silymarin) into a diet based on corn‐soybean‐rapeseed meal enhanced growth, digestibility, faecal microbiota, and the absorption rate in the blood of growing pigs (Hossain et al, 2023). There have been observations regarding interactions between substances in the feed matrix, such as PFA's biological effects being lessened when present in high‐protein or fibrous diets (Beauchemin & McGinn, 2006).…”

Silybin Alleviated Hepatic Injury by Regulating Redox Balance, Inflammatory Response, and Mitochondrial Function in Weaned Piglets under Paraquat-Induced Oxidative Stress

“…In addition, silybin possesses a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities [ 11 , 12 ], and improves mitochondrial function by regulating biogenesis and bioenergetics [ 13 , 14 ]. Dietary silymarin/silybin has been reported to improve growth performance and exert a promoting effect on systemic health in pigs and poultries [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Consistently, our previous research also found that dietary silybin decreased diarrhea incidence and improved growth performance in weaned piglets; moreover, silybin supplementation effectively alleviated intestinal injury by improving the antioxidant properties, mitochondrial function, and microbial community composition of weaned piglets [ 19 ].…”

Dietary inclusion of micelle silymarin enhances egg production, quality, and lowers blood cholesterol in Hy‐line brown laying hens

“…for example, silymarin, gallic acid, Achyranthes japonica extract, turmeric, ginseng, and so forth (Biswas et al, 2023;Hossain et al, 2024;Khan et al, 2023). One of them, silymarin, has gained research attention and practical applications in the poultry industry over the past few years (Surai & Peter, 2023).…”